Revenge

[Lani Stranger]

52nd of Winter, 518AV

”Isn’t it a nice day?” Narth asked, and Lani gave him a weary look. She hadn’t expected the brute to forgive her so quickly, but she wasn’t going to question it… out loud. The odd cheery and talkative way he was today concerned her though. Narth was not a man of many words, at least not with her, and given the recent events he had every right to be unpleasant with her. Instead she had seen the man’s warrior figure looming outside the Enclave at the end of her shift that evening, and knew he wanted her to go with him. Except it wasn’t the screaming fighting match that she anticipated, instead they just walked. She thought they were going to The Edge of the World when they exited the safety of the mountain, but Narth veered them in another direction.

They found themselves in a flat open area near the cliffs. There was a clean circle carved into the ground, ringed with even ledges that seemed to be crowded with people. It was a breathtaking view in itself, with the sun setting beneath the thick clouds out into Thunder Bay. It wasn’t until a cheer ran up in the ground that Lani realized where Narth had brought them. The Fighting Pits.

Fear seized her chest at the thought. Under no circumstance would she win a fight against Narth, she had a slim chance of surviving as it were. She stumbled in her step, holding back, not wanting to go where he lead her, and she felt his large capable hand on her lower back, urging her forward. ”Narth…” She pleaded. We can talk about this. She wanted to say, her heart hammering as she searched for her hypnotism to help her words mean something to him, but her thoughts were interrupted by his hearty laugh.

”Bah! No Lani, we are watching. It’s just us, spending time together, watching sport.” He said, reassuring her, but there was a vibrant mischief that twirled in his aura, picked up by her Chaktawe fingers. He may not be telling the whole truth, although it was hard to read on his face, it was plain in his aura.

”Okay.” She agreed simply, grabbing his hand from her back trying to pull it from her skin. He took the chance to wind his fingers into hers, gripping her tight and close. The grip was not worrisome, it was not any different than he had held her hand before, but the timing seemed off. He should be mad at her. He should not want to talk to her for a moon at least, and yet he was friendly and warm… it concerned the foreigner more than she wanted to let on. Instead the mixed blood leaned into whatever mood he was feeling Narth had been her seduction practice for the past few seasons, and so she knew him well, and what he wanted. Without hesitating she gripped his fingers back, bringing her other hand up to wrap underneath his bicep. He liked the foreign woman to cling to him, and so she happily took the responsibility of his accessory pressing her side into his and matching his footsteps as he led them into the seating. He led them uncomfortably close to the fighting, but she kept her shoulders loose and a slight curious expression on her face, leaning into the man for his warmth and watching the world around her carefully.

[Lani Stranger]

Her passive auristic ability was becoming overwhelming so she pressed her finger tips into Narth’s skin to try and stifle the motions that they read in the air around her. Narth seemed to respone fondly to this and as they took their seat, he swung a muscled arm around her shoulder. This was weird. They almost never interacted in public, so she had little to base this behavior off of, but she had been witness to his threatening displays of dominance towards her on more than one occasion. They all shared a similar trait: Narth touching her far more than he normally would. Although he had no hand to her throat, nor did he crush her with his weight, or hold his sword uncomfortably close to her chest, the display of his entire arm over her shoulders felt like another one of his shows of dominance, and she responded so. The mixed blood tried not to shrink into herself, but she did find it harder to hold a calm face as she watched the fights, feeling the weight of Narth on her shoulder.

”Ayyy!” Narth shouted suddenly, taking his arm off of her to clap, and the crowd seemed to join with him. Lani hadn’t been paying attention and she jumped visibly at his sudden movement, and looked up at him. He glanced at her, a knowing grin on her face, and she sighed. He was mad, there was no denying it. But she did not know what his game was. How was he going to punish her? Rather than show him she feared him, she feigned exhaustion and leaned into him. Resting her cheek on his shoulder and using him as a rest, hoping her clear exhaustion might subdue whatever anger he was sitting on.

”No, no, Black Eyes. Pay attention.” He urged, thick calloused fingers gently pulling her chin from his shoulder and pointing out over the fight. ”He’s about to take her down.” Listening to Narth she finally paid attention to the fighting in the pits. She could see two figures, nearly naked, brawling in the center. They were not near the edges, although she now realized that the edges looked quite dangerously void of any sort of railing that would prevent the brawlers from going over the edge. To her horror, she watched as the clearly larger man picked the woman up and then slammed her into the ground as if she was a heavy bale of hay, and nothing more. She didn’t move immediately from his position, and the crowd erupted in cheers again. Over the noise of the crowd she could not hear the woman, but she could see her curl into herself, mouth agap with unchecked drool travelling from her cheek. That had to of hurt.

The clear violence excited the mixed blood in a way she didn’t think it would, and she found herself leaning forward as well. The man seemed to show some mercy and offered his opponent his hand, which she merely stared at. The crowd booed this action, and Lani even found herself frowning. Finish her! She wanted to shout, before remembering that she was supposed to be pouting.

[Lani Stranger]

”Ah, Krric Troo.” Narth complained at the clear anticlimactic ending. Lani had not been paying nearly as much attention as him, so she was not as disappointed, but she did understand his want for blood.

”Look,” She encouraged, pointing to the two Avora who seemed to prepare to be sparring next. They looked as if they were joking around and not taking their oncoming fight seriously, and so Lani assumed it would be a similar ending to the one that had just happened. However if they were willing to fight, she knew that the crowd would be willing to watch, so who was she to complain. Narth followed her gaze and saw the oncoming fight.

”Good, someone who isn’t afraid to fight dirty.” He said, and Lani grinned as the last two opponents were helped out of the fight. It was as the two walked into the pit that Lani realized they had no weapons as well. She was beginning to wonder if this pit was weaponless only. Narth seemed to recognize the two Avora that entered now, although Lani had no idea who they were. It made sense though, Narth was an Endal flight leader, and Lani was a Chiet foreigner, their social groups were vastly different.

The two wasted no time getting into the pit, two men. Each were light on their feet as they stretched and wiggled loose joints, throwing jabs at one another in Nari a time or two before settling into more serious postures. The first punch was thrown unceremoniously, but the other boy managed to dodge it easily enough, drawing a long anticipatory sound from the audience. Lani felt Narth’s arm return around her hip, less domineering as it was around her shoulder, but still present. Still, she was distracted by the sparring in the pit to pay recognition to the touch.

The two Inarta were going in heavy now, still throwing jabs at one another, with seriousness but not as intense of the last fight yet. It was clear these were two friends fighting, and not a serious battle. The fight did not reflect the last one in style either. Both seemed trained in some form of unarmed combat and are utilizing it. The shorter haired man had far less skill than the one with two braids down his back and as the fight continued, it showed. The fight had going on for perhaps two chimes when they fell from their structured unarmed combat to chaotic brawling. The short haired one had the long haired one by the braids and was yanking his head back. While he did so the braided one was pounding his back ineffectively, and it devolved into a poor excuse for brawling. The crowd shared voices of displeasure with this entertainment, although no one moved to interrupt them. Eventually one of them tapped out, and the other simply let go.

”The people want to see some real fighting,” Narth muttered as an aside to Lani, and she nodded with enthusiasm. She wanted to see a real fight as well. Only Narth was now pulling Lani into a standing position, which threw off her enthusiasm for the fight, and began to confuse her. Not quite sure what was happening she gave into him and stood, his hand still attached to her lower back pushing her forward down the rows of chairs now.

[Lani Stranger]

”What—You will fight?” She guessed. The Endal was an excellent fighter after all, she had seen it from the last time. The time when she had started the fight. The time that he had every right to be angry at her for. Oh shyke. ”Wait Narth!” She protested, looking at the wicked grin on his face with a whole new horror. She had no idea how to fight unarmed, none at all. She had punched a few people in Taverns in her time, but she had never actually fought. ”Narth! Wait!” She shouted now, hypnotism rising from the djed in her stomach and lacing her words with a thick intent. Narth faltered, and she spun to look at him, placing two hands on his chest.

”Narth, listen.” She gasped, the hypnotism zapping out of her words once again, and his furrowed brow lightened.

”Ah, don’t worry. It’s just good fun, you can fight a Dek.” He grinned, and she heard the malice in his tone, the one that told her it was not just good fun.

”Narth.” But he already had her spun around again and she had to focus on her fee to keep from falling flat on her face on the edge of the pit. The two that had just sparred were leaving the ring now, patting each other on the back and returning to their earlier friendship. Lani was panicking, trying to find some way out of this situation. She didn’t want to fight anyone, but a Dek? The ones who had every reason to hate the upper caste? Ones who would see a foreigner receiving more privilege than themselves and hate her for it?

”Who wants to see how the black eyed one fights?” Narth’s booming voice echoed behind her, and Lani froze, turning carefully to glare at him as the crowd erupted to cheer on the idea. They were there for entertainment, they didn’t care how they got it. Shyke, shyke, shyke. Petch me. Petch, petch, petch. Her internal monologue was entirely made up of cursing words as she watched people actually begin to volunteer. She did not recognize the clothing of the Dek on any of them, and to her utter relief, no Endal either. An Endal would surely kill her. Did Narth want her dead? Or did he just want to embarrass her like she had embarrassed him?

Lani wasn’t paying too much attention as her ears were ringing with the stress of the situation. Narth must have picked someone for her to fight because she watched a red haired Inarta waltz down towards her. For a tick she wondered if fainting would get her out of the situation, and if she could even muster it in the moment. Except now her adrenaline was kicking in as she watched the man approaching. Forgetting caste etiquette Lani straightened herself, throwing a glare at Narth that was mean tot skin puppies. ”I’ll have your throat when this is done.” She muttered at the man in common, and he just grinned at her.

”You are capable.” He repeated her words back to her, and Lani stuttered, her glare faltering at the realization. Instead of flaring up into anger, it settled into a hard cold lump in her stomach, clearing her head quickly as she realized.

[Lani Stranger]

”Entertain me, Black Eyes.” His words barely registered as Lani rolled her neck, searching the pit for her oncoming opponent. He was a short man, although not too muscular, he seemed unimpressed by her height and clear foreignness. Focusing on his aura, she felt the motions of hate in her finger tips, although she could not know why. She had never seen this man before in her life, could he hate her? Or did he just hate foreigners.

Unlike the last fight in the pit, he did not wait for her to prepare herself. The redhaired man simply walked straight up to her and flung a fist out. She nearly caught the punch with her left cheek, but at the last moment was able to curve backwards and out of his way. The mixed blood’s heart was racing, and she used this rhythm to hop backwards a few more steps, keeping just out of his reach. This Inarta was like a goat though, and lurched forward again, reaching out with his other arm. This time Lani found herself more prepared for his attack. She twisted out of his reach and then skittered a few steps around him now, keeping her eye on the edge of the cliff that loomed. The sun had done and set now, their fight being illuminated by fire.

Lani was gaining confidence and so she found herself behind the man and reached out to try and whack him in the side of the neck. He was not twisting around to meet her, and so she had just enough time to land the stiff side of her hand in the crook of his neck. He cried out, and Lani got a small grin of satisfaction at the successful hit. Only before she expected it, he reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward into him. Lani was not expecting what she expected from the move, but found herself far too close to the man now. She had been succeeding so far simply because she could stay out of his reach, but now he had her.

”Son of a-!” She exclaimed with shock, grabbing at him with her other arm as he pulled her around him. Although smaller the Inarta was much stronger and whipped her around so that she landed on her back on the ground. Lani huffed out her last breath shock plastered on her face. The goat needed a moment to recharge, and she used the time to raise her hands above her shoulder and push off the ground. She bounded to her feet lithely and then skittered out of his way much less graceful than before as she tried to regain her breathe. Black eyes scanned the crowd and focused on Narth. All earlier notions of mischief had disappeared and she watched his hard cold face judging her fight. He wanted to be entertained, but his anger was hard to get past.

He had distracted her enough that the goat had charged for her once again, throwing a punch into her gut. It hurt and Lani took the force of the punch, using it as a lesson to focus on her opponent. She took a few more jolting steps back, and then realized she was farther from Narth than she wanted to be. Checking the edge of the ring, she saw that it was merely two feet from her.

[Lani Stranger]

Panic set in and Lani’s feet took off running away from the edge of the cliff, but the goat was in her way. He slung out an arm to attempt to hit her as she passed, but Lani expected this move from him. Confident in her step, she opted to launch over the arm rather than go underneath it. He tried to adjust his punch to reach her, and she felt his hands slip on her ankle, but she had given herself enough space that she was able to tuck her feet into herself and begin rolling forward. Her lower back hit the ground first and she was able to roll forward, displacing her weight so that she could end right back up in a stand.

She hadn’t really been paying attention to the sounds of the crowd, but the overwhelming noise pulled her out of her focus, and she looked around for a mere tick, confused. Were they cheering? She didn’t like that.

The goat lurched for her again, and again she skipped out of his way. She was not doing much actual fighting, but she was using her acrobatic skill to her advantage, avoiding each of his rough punches as best she could. This time she was fueled by the odd confidence that hearing the crowd cheer for her gave her. Lani skipped two steps out of his way and then launched herself sideways, landing on her hands on the ground and twisting her body forward so that she was now three of her body lengths away from him, in as extra a move as she could manage. She was now up close to the benches, and she was beginning to realize that the acrobatics would only entertain the crowd for so long. They wanted to see her fight. She wasn’t going to fight.

”Hey,” She spoke to the man, lacing her words with a deep hypnotic suggestion: calm down. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to her, and her hypnotism fell flat. He was zeroing in on her again, and she knew if he got too close he would try to attack again. Lani hopped to the side, and then when he got too close, throwing a punch out towards her, she rolled underneath. He was learning though, and she felt his hand snatch her ankle. Panic seized her breathe and she spasmed, kicking out randomly to try and throw the man off of her. She felt her foot hit something hard and heard his groan. For once her brain did not think of how she had affected him, just that his grip on her ankle had loosened enough for her to wiggle out of it.

Once she scampered out of his grasp, she saw him cupping his jaw on the ground. Vindicated by making an actual hit, Lani lurched forward again. He had one knee on the ground and was working on getting both underneath him again, but Lani was not about to let that happen. She swung one leg out, hooking his crooked knee and pulling him forward into an uncomfortable looking split. His hands left his jaw quickly to steady himself, and Lani took the moment to toss another kick into his arm, knocking him off balance. He was laying prone on the ground when Lani stepped even closer to try and land a kick in his side.

[Lani Stranger]

It hit with a satisfying thud and then Lani felt two large hands on her biceps, holding her arms back and dragging her backwards. Narth’s booming laugh was in her ear now, and she realized he was trying to get her stop. Lani slumped, stopped kicking her downed goat, and then looked at the man seriously. He was recovering his feet while she was being held back, and for all reasons Lani thought the fight was over. Still trapped by Narth’s steel arms though, Lani watched the hate rear its ugly head in the goat’s aura once more and before she could protest the man’s hand shot out. She didn’t feel the hit, or see it really, she simply woke up, head resting on the ground not a tick later.

Only it must have been more than simply a tick, perhaps nearly a chime because she was watching the receding figure of the goat as he stepped out of the pit, a cool glob of wetness on her cheek. The world turned and spun in her peripherals, and so she let herself rest there for a moment longer, waiting for the ground to settle perpendicular to her face. Someone moaned and Lani realized it was herself, she could feel hands on her sides, holding her in the sideways position, one arm above her head while she came properly too again. She recognized the position given to the fainted, and began pulling her limbs into herself, reaching up to wipe the goat’s spit from her face. Someone was saying something, but Lani was not immediately in a space to recognize the Nari, nor did she care. The mixed blood slapped the hands away from herself and dragged herself to her knees. Something lurched in her stomach, threatening to upchuck the food that was digesting in there. At the same time grey began to infest her vision. She felt someone’s hand on her back, but she ignored it, waiting for the rough to break free of the oncoming grey before she moved again.

Finding her feet beneath her, Lani’s black gaze narrowed on the path between the seats that led back into the warrens of the city. At the moment it was all she wanted, and when she stood, hobbling a bit, she immediately began walking, not caring too much if it was not in a straight line, so long as she was out of sight of all the people… and Narth. Absently, Lani straightened her Bryda and then ducked into the rows that surrounded the fighter pits, and tried to disappear into the sound. Only once she found her way back into the passageways did she begin to feel the results of her fight. Soreness emanated from all over her body, competing with the sudden pounding headache in her head. She had regained her vision and mental facilities now, but it quickly set in that the long trek back to her apartments would be excruciating.

[Lani Stranger]

Lani groaned, reaching out for a porous volcanic wall to cling to. Her back hurt something awful, and it felt like her guts had been battered with rocks. Goat was an apt name for the brutish fighter, as he had succeeded in a way. Lani fell into the wall, slumping against it and leaning her back into it. She propped her elbows on her knees and let her head fall into her hands. She wanted badly to cry, to let the pain overtake her, but she found no release of emotion. Her heart was still beating rapidly, and although she was losing the rush of the fight, she was not feeling any rush of emotion in response as she anticipated.

She must have sat like that for a bell, people passing her without bothering her, before someone stopped near her, stooping by her. She felt a familiar hand land on her shoulder and rub it gently, and Lani looked up, a prepared glare on her features. ”Did I ‘entertain’?” She spat venom at Narth, and his concerned face faltered.

”Let’s just forget about it.” He said simply. It seemed that his revengeful ploy to make her suffer in return was backfiring at him. He had always hated seeing Lani weak, even when he tried to remind her that he was more powerful than her. She had caused his fight with Red, but she hadn’t much liked watching it either. Without speaking any words, a skill the two of them had never been good at, they came to a soft understanding. She could read the discomfort and yearning in his aura and knew that it matched hers. They would not use others to fight with one another, it hurt themselves to see the other in pain they had caused.

”Okay,” Lani sighed, reaching up for him with both hands. He recognized her pain and grasped her underneath the arms to help her up. Lani groaned as the stiffness that had settled into her sore organs began to complain with her sudden movement. Narth chuckled and smoothed his hands gently across her ribs to support her. Lani took the chance to stretch out her limbs, mouthing ‘ow’s as she did so.

”Here, let’s go to the baths and get you cleaned up.” Narth muttered, and Lani leaned her head on his chest and nodded into him, wincing at the soreness and pain. Lani stopped him before he could start stepping forward. A gilded hand reached up to grab his beard sharply, forcing him to pay attention to her. He paused, but she could feel the sharp curiosity in his aura beneath her fingertips.

”No more fight.” She muttered, and then without giving him a chance to response, sealed her words into his brain with a kiss. She laced the action with as much hypnotism as she could, suggesting a sense of lust and worry from him that made him want to cherish her rather than destroy her. He began to return the kiss, and she did not see it as a sign that her low-level hypnotism was working, but she was encouraged by the returned affection. Narth was hers, and he was not allowed to hurt her again.